Review Archive

‘Tides’ from Second Hand Heart - haunting atmospheric music

(June 22, 2014)

Otherworldly folk or ambient rock? Well it all depends on your view, where your musical compass points and how desperate you are for definition. We seem to have a glut of indefinable music hitting us right now which can only be good. So what of ‘Tides’ from Australian band Second Hand Heart? Well, some may find it obscure and insubstantial, others softly engaging, while those with the tenacity to delve into this convoluted and meandering mix will find their persistence rewarded.

If you have to ‘box’ the output from Second Hand Heart, then 'Tides' is alternately disarmingly delicate and darkly dominant, haunting atmospheric music that flirts with and crosses into and out of many genres. And that includes a folky vibe, a rocky edge and a multi-layered mesh of complex sounds. From the waivering vocals, undulating harmonies and intricate melodies of ‘Damnesia’ and ‘Spending My Time’, through the brief ominous, chanting intensity of ‘Down The Rabbit Hole’, to the pulsating percussive energy of ‘Trouble’and ‘Lions’ with its burgeoning power, there’s a thread of both reflection and deliberation running through this album. And for those that it touches, it’s rather good.

This music has an organic feel, it lives and breathes with the band as much as from them. Although I suspect it’s not music for everyone, which it ought to be, given its lingering, soothing vibe.